Reflect with Posters

 

Vicky Phelan

Wisdom from Vicky Phelan

This country feels incomplete following the loss of Vicky Phelan. The cervical cancer campaigner gave so much to this country, to the women of Ireland, and to women's healthcare. She used her short life to fight, raise awareness, and make Ireland a better country.

She inspired and influenced so many of us, but the best thing Vicky Phelan taught us to embrace the everyday moments.  For example, She spent the day with her son, doing simple things like helping him with homework and playing Wordle. It wasn't anything grand or exciting. There was no lavish setting or fancy event. It was simple. It was what matters most.

 Vicky said,  "Not enough of us take enjoyment from the little things. We rush through them waiting for the bigger things to come along.

A TRIBUTE TO VICKY:

One of Vicky’s favourite places was the west coast of Ireland where she used to love spending time in her holiday home. She often talked of walking the beach which she adored to do or simply watching waves as they either crashed into the shore or on soft days, rolled gently onto the beach. It was the simple things that meant the most to Vicky. Spending time with her children and her loved ones and watching in awe at the beauty of nature. Absorbing and making the most of every precious moment that she had left in this world.

We all know that Vicky was that wave who came crashing in when there was desperate wrongdoing to her and to so many other women in Ireland. She brought to light the cervical scandal. She was not going to shut up and go away quietly as they had hoped she would do. The powers that be had met their match in Vicky Phelan. She fought to the very end to stay alive for as long as she could, and she fought to the end for every person in Ireland who were and who could be failed by our health service. In doing so she saved hundreds of lives. We all watched in awe and admiration of her and her bravery. She was as beautiful and yet as strong as those waves she so loved. But Vicky was also the gentle wave that rolls on to the beach. she comforted and reassured all of us. She opened our eyes to the best things in life and she taught us to appreciate them. She inspired all of us. Vicky Phelan was and is our hero!

Our little island is yet again mourning the loss of another woman to cancer. It's made all the harder by knowing their deaths might possibly have been avoided.

We can only pray that this dreadful situation may never ever be allowed to happen or to be covered up again. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts Vicky. In all of our hearts you shall remain.

We leave you with a poem by Ellen Brememan and the photo above that Vicky took herself of her beloved West Coast. She has said understandably that she wasn't so sure God exists but we'd like to think he does and that he met her in the early hours this morning with this scene where one day she will be reunited with her beloved children and all of her loved ones.

Don't think of her as gone away

her journeys just begun

life holds so many facets

this earth is only one

Just think of her as resting

from the sorrow and the tears

in a place of warmth and comfort

where there are no days and years

Think how she must be wishing

that we could know today

how nothing but our sadness

can really pass away

And think of her as living

in the hearts of those she touched

for nothing loved is ever lost

and she was loved so much

Rest in peace dearest dearest Vicky.                                                                                                                        Please watch over all of us

 An Empty Feeling

Song by The Stunning

Collar up the cutting wind is blowing down the river
Kids begging on O'Connell bridge, how can they stand the cold?
People stray from matinees all starry-eyes and in a daze
From paradise in the picture house they spill out on the road

Got an empty feeling deep inside, it hit me when we said goodbye
I can't find a thing to say, I wish to god I could smile

This love was like a hurricane no one could stop no one could tame
It fuelled the fire and fanned the flames, what a nice surprise
But a silver cloud came drifting in, a satin shroud it covered in
I never found the secrets that were hidden in her eyes

Got an empty feeling deep inside, it hit me when we said goodbye
I can't find a thing to say, I wish to god I could smile

Now it's time to lock up shop it'd six o'clock right on the dot
Shutters clatter to the ground like big steel overcoats
Right now this place is not for me, home is where I want to be
Surrounded by the memories of things we used to say

Got an empty feeling deep inside, it hit me when we said goodbye
I can't find a thing to say, I wish to god I could smile
I'm losing you

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut7MFbIxyZU&ab_channel=TheLateLateShow

 

Heads Are Gonna Roll

Song by The Stunning

When I was younger my heart had a hunger
For feelings of every kind
But down through the years I shed hardly a tear
Was it just that I hadn't the time?
A world full of sorrow holds pain for tomorrow
The future don't look very bright
Down through the ages we're tearing the pages
There's more of the book still to write

All these years I never asked why
All the tears I never could cry
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry

I met an old woman she knew I was coming
By the leaves in her teacup that night
I took pains to explain what I found on my way
And the things that I left way behind

All these years I never asked why
All the tears I never could cry
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry
And you've nothing left to show
So heads are gonna roll

All these years I never asked why
All the tears I never could cry
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry
And you've nothing left to show
You've got nothing left to show
So heads are gonna roll

You don't miss the water till the well runs dry
Don't miss the water till the well runs dry
You don't miss the water till the well runs dry
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah yeah yeah.

 

 

 

 

 

How the Sun died so that the Moon could live

 

How the Sun died so that the Moon could live.

At the dawn of time, when the universe was still young, the earth and the sky lived in harmony, but the sky would always look down at the earth and grow envious. The sky wanted to be more beautiful than the earth, so it birthed the sun and the moon and set them to roam the sky’s vast expanses. The oldest was the sun, shining brightly, and his sister the moon was small and cold, but they never parted. The sun would warm his sister, and let her shine as well. The sky was happy with his creation – as the sun and the moon roamed the firmament, it made it look much more beautiful than the earth, which was gray, brown, and black.

After a time, the sky noticed that, as they circled it from above, the sun and the moon were changing the earth. The sun’s heat caused plants to grow, filling the earth with shades of green. The moon moved the earth’s seas, carving beautiful shores and cliffs. It did not take long for the earth to be filled with colors and life, much to the sky’s dismay.

Frustrated, the sky decided to do away with his creations. Summoning the sun, it congratulated it for all the beautiful changes it made to the earth and said that he could do even more. The sun was curious, and so it followed the sky to a volcano. Sky told the sun that if it truly loved the earth, it would jump inside and give her more heat.

Unsure if it was wise, but bereft of his sister the moon’s advice, the sun put his trust in the sky. This was the first time the sun was away from his sister, and he felt lonely without her. The sky filled the sun’s imagination with all the beauty and diversity the earth would gain from him. “But, should I not ask the moon for her opinion?” he asked, and the sky told him that it would be a surprise for her, and would make her happy. Convinced, the sun jumped into the volcano and feasted on the boiling lava, which made him grow.

When the sun’s light disappeared, the earth and the moon searched for it throughout the firmament, yet they could not find him. When they asked the sky, he replied that he does not know where the sun is.

Sometime later, the sun got so big and hot that the volcano erupted, spewing it out. The sun’s intense heat now burnt everything it touched, so it rushed up to the heavens, hoping not to burn the earth. Alas, it was in vain, and his intense heat was burning the earth, turning it brown and desolate. The heat was so terrible that even the moon couldn’t stand it, and she ran and hid in the seas of the earth.

As the sun traversed the firmament, all that he approached suffered from his blaze. As he looked down at the earth, it saw the earth brown and dying, and his sister cowering from him in its seas. The sun did not wish to harm anyone, so to amend for his mistake, he threw himself into the sea, hoping to drown himself. When the heat and shine diminished, the moon left the sea in search of the sun. 

Looking down, she saw a dim glow coming from the earth’s sea and followed it. The moon’s brother has lost most of its shine, yet the little that was left was still enough to guide her to him. As the moon found the sun’s body floating in the water, she wept, as she could not imagine ever existing without him. As her tears reached his lifeless body, they filled it up with a new life. His sister’s love has given him a new life, and he began to shine once more, but his heat still burnt her body.

The sun rushed up to the firmament, and the renewed light filled the earth with life once more, but the moon could not withstand the heat and was forced to hide in the sea. The sun’s heart grew heavy, knowing that he was the reason his sister can no longer roam the firmament freely, and so he once more plunged himself into the seas to free his sister. But the moon would only ascent to the firmament again in search of him, only to find him drowned once more, and her new tears would revive him.

When the sky saw the disaster he had wrought, he was filled with regret. The sun and the moon’s misery had touched him deeply, and he thought of a solution. He filled the firmament with stars so that the moon would not be lonely, and at times, he would come between the sun and the moon so that they may roam the firmament together, if only for a time.

We Remember them